- May 18, 2006
A conservative US think tank said that it had offered a position to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a right-wing Somali-born Dutch lawmaker who is leaving the Netherlands amid a row over her citizenship.
"She has been offered a position of resident fellow at American Enterprise Institute (AEI)," Andrew Pappas, a spokesman at the Washington-based think tank, told AFP.
He said AEI president Christopher DeMuth on Tuesday sent a letter to Hirsi Ali, an outspoken critic of conservative Islam, saying that her application to join the think tank had been approved.
"We are confident that your work at AEI could make important contributions to urgent issues of politics and social understanding -- in particular, to furthering the reconciliation of Muslim teachings with the ideals of individual freedom and responsibility and the 'open society'," the letter states.
It said that AEI was aware of Hirsi Ali's controversial views but believes that "controversies such as these, when conducted in a spirit of civility and reasoned inquiry, are essential to intellectual progress, and are to be welcomed rather than feared".
The letter added that in light of the uproar surrounding Hirsi Ali's citizenship, she could join AEI before autumn, as originally expected.
Pappas said he did not know when Hirsi Ali would arrive in the United States or what topic she will be researching at the think tank.
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